Ten days after the murder of 17-year-old Nahel by a police officer in Nanterre,
France, the days of angry mass protests that ensued have largely died down. ----The repression of the French state hits all the harder now. Juveniles aresentenced to months in prison in summary proceedings. The racist social discourseintensified up to the highest political levels.It becomes very clear: the societal conditions that made Nahel's assassinationpossible are still here and they are tightening their stranglehold onworking-class neighborhoods. There is therefore no choice: the struggle must go on.We have translated the recent statement from our French sister organization UnionCommuniste Libertaire, in which they analyze the reactions to the revolt and theracist social conditions in France, and show what direction the fight for realjustice for working-class neighborhoods must take in order to be successful be.We join their demands.Truth and justice for Nahel and all other police victims!Stop criminalizing legitimate mass protests!Down with the police and their violence!Justice for the working-class neighborhoods!After the murder of young Nahel by two police officers, as in 2005 after thedeaths of Zied and Bouna, the youth in the working class neighborhoods revoltedfor a whole week.The scale of the revolt is a proportionate response to this new killing, whichcomes in line with so many other killings over the past 20 years. Two weeksbefore Nahel's death, a 19-year-old man was killed by police bullets in Angoulêmefor refusing to carry out their orders. His name was Alhoussein. Since Nahel'sdeath, a 27-year-old man died in Marseille on the night of July 1-2, presumablyas a result of LBD shelling used for a few years).The state's response is always the same: authoritarian, stigmatizing, racist andcolonial.Authoritarian because, in the name of "maintaining order", he allows himself tosend the army into the streets: the GIGN (note: French police special forces),the Gendarmerie tanks, the BRI (note: French police special forces, usually usedin case of aggravated robbery or hostage-taking), the RAID (note: elite unit ofthe French National Police). The police are having a good time and are notholding back in any way in the working-class neighborhoods.Videos of violent arrests, shots at the crowd and beatings are alreadycirculating on social networks. A curfew has been imposed in some cities, socialnetworks are being monitored and censored, public transport is being shut down,so workers in the neighborhoods have to go home on their own.Stigmatizing and racist, because in the face of this there is no dialogue but astigmatization of the parents, the "rioters: inside", who are portrayed as anuncontrollable, baseless, bestial and wild mob: a classic of colonial rhetoric.This can also be found in the communiqué of the police unions Alliance Police andUNSA Police, which fortunately was denounced by their umbrella organisations. Intheir communiqué they call for a real racist civil war. It speaks of "pests", of"war" and "wild hordes" - the dehumanization is complete.The murder of Nahel is brushed aside or its portrayal largely influenced byracist logics and a condemnation of the revolt: the IGPN (note: policeinspection, which is supposed to investigate rule violations by police officers)boasts of not having heard the same sentences on the video , despite beingwatched by millions of people. According to the media, Nahel's mother would notadopt the attitude of a grieving mother.Nahel is a repeat offender, and you hear everywhere that he is not an "angel".Even more shocking - if that's even possible - is that the fundraiser to supportthe police officer's family has amassed over a million euros. The message isclear: kill a 17-year-old and you'll become a millionaire.Repression is also carried out by the judiciary. The courts have been bursting atthe seams for a few days. One fast-track procedure against young people who donot know their rights follows the next and their families don't sleep a wink allnight. Politicians insist the penalties - according to Justice Minister Moretti'scircular - are severe and the courts also open on Sundays to try the juveniles.And finally, fascist groups, as in Angers, Chambéry or Lyon, armed with ironbars, take to the streets to practice vigilantism.After the so-called "turmoil" phase, the anger must not remain silent and isolated.Because what has changed since 2005? The residents of the working-classneighborhoods know the racism, the violence, the discrimination and thehumiliations by the police, but also the humiliations in court, the humiliationsin everyday life: in the social services offices, at school, at the workplace,the exaggerated media and political stigmatization of immigration, Muslims and soon. The terms like "decivilization" used at the highest level of the stateencourage institutional racism. Add to that the Separatism Law (note: thisrecently passed law is intended primarily to target alleged "Islamic parallelsocieties") and the license to kill that the police were granted in 2017 (note:this sentence alludes to the deregulation of police policies on the use ofweapons in confrontations). On a social level, inflation is strangling residentsand since 2017, the macronie of youth in the neighborhoods has only beenUberization (note: this phrase alludes to the company "Uber", for which manyyoung people from poor neighborhoods work on precarious conditions work) offeredas a solution: optimize racist discrimination and subjugate in precariousness.The young people condemn social misery and all its human consequences: toprecariousness, unemployment, low wages, dismantling and disappearance of publicservices and generally every form of collective solidarity. These neighborhoodriots must raise awareness that the state and politics are responsible for thereproduction of a racist society. Even if the police officer's shot at Nahel isprimarily a racist individual act, we should not forget that it is largely madepossible by the functioning of the institutions.We call for an open-ended campaign to demand justice for working-classneighborhoods and call for people to join or organize demonstrations as they areplanned.We demand justice and truth for all families who have lost a loved one to thepolice and the immediate repeal of the 2017 police deregulation, ComprehensiveSecurity Act (Note: This 2021 Act gave the police more powers and strengthenedthe ability to surveillance) and the disarmament of the police. We demand thatthese crimes be classified as racist crimes by denouncing the entire chain ofthose responsible.We denounce the police for what they are: a racist, colonial institution that isslipping more and more into fascist tendencies and only performs a function ofclass control. In view of the events of the past weeks and months, thedissolution of the BRAV-M (note: a special unit of police officers on motorcyclesfounded against the yellow vests) is necessary as a first step, as is that of theBAC (note: for undercover investigations and rapid intervention specialized unitof the National Police), which should have happened years ago.We demand the abolition of the separatism law, the legalization of undocumentedmigrants, an end to systematic discrimination and racist hate speech.We demand the release of those arrested and an amnesty for those sentenced sincelast week in connection with the uprising.We demand the massive redistribution of all public services (housing, health,school, transport) and corresponding (non-precarious) jobs for the residents ofthese neighborhoods, funded by the redistribution of wealth.We demand that the population control the price of basic foodstuffs. Thebourgeoisie has enriched itself enough on the backs of the working-classneighborhoods.Union Communiste Libertaire, July 5, 2023https://www.dieplattform.org/2023/07/09/nach-der-revolte-in-frankreich-gerechtigkeit-fuer-die-arbeiterinnenviertel/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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